My Weekly Newsletter Exclusive Content

Starting with the Basics

Featured in Editions 1-5

1st Edition

Aperture.

A space through which light passes in an optical or photographic instrument, especially the variable opening by which light enters a camera.

A low aperture number indicates that there will be a shallow depth of field. Like in the picture above, the shallower the DOF (depth of field), the more bokeh (blurry backround) the photo retains. This look is great for close ups, but isn’t so great for landscapes. You’ll want a smaller aperture for landscapes to enhance the DOF.

Basically, the greater the number, the greater the aperture. In most cases with portraits you’re going to want a shallower DOF, so a lower aperture number. The shallow DOF effect can really set your photos apart from others.

2nd Edition

Editor’s Note

Today in our “Starting with the Basics” series we will be discussing exposure. Exposure can be a difficult thing to master, but I’ll try to make it really simple.
I just have to say one thing, don’t trust the camera’s judgement on where the exposure should be.

Exposure.

The state of being exposed to contact with something.

When it comes to exposure, it takes some experience to fully understand just how it works in all situations. the basic idea of exposure is balancing how much light your allowing the camera to let into contact with the censor. There is a system that each DSLR has that lets you know where the exposure is. It works most of the time, but not always.

The camera gauges the exposure by too much black or too much white in the photo. Sometimes in order to have your subject in correct exposure, you have to flush out the backround like in snow. sometimes the backround ends up being dark black especially in flash/night situations. I suggest experimenting with your exposure settings to see what works for you.

3rd Edition

Editor’s Note

Today I wanted to side track a bit! It seems that everyone these days is obsessed with being artsy. Most people really don’t understand how to take vintage photos, but I want to help you out! we’ll focus on what makes a photo stand out from others.

Artsy or Original?

I want to first express just how awesome it is if you want to have cool, artsy, or original photos! Artsy is just a term for photos taken with passion and care. A photo you know someone took time on. Original is you looking for the perfect angle, moment, subject etc… to snap a shot of. Look out for those perfect settings that will stand out and make a great photo like this one below.

I kept my eye out for something unique, and I found it. You won’t always find what you think your looking for, you just have to continually examine candid lifestyle, and yes, it takes work. After all we all don’t live at Times Square. Test your imagination to get ideas on what perspective/angle might change a picture from average to amazing. Just have fun and enjoy the beauties of creation! I hope this helps. Thanks for reading!

4th Edition

Editor’s Note

I’m excited to talk about ISO today! I know that many of people get confused about this concept, and I want to clear up a few things. I hope you enjoy, and I appreciate your feedback, If you just want to email me with a number between one and five which represents your 1-5 rating of this week’s email blog, I’ll mark you down for a 20% OFF any photo shoot or paper prints. I’ll email you a digital coupon that I’ll send the next week. Thank You for Reading!

ISO

ISO stands for International Standards Organization, and it is a standardized industry scale for measuring sensitivity to light. This can be used in relation to how sensitive camera film is to light, but more commonly today, it pertains to the sensitivity of a digital image sensor.

So, ISO is a setting you can change on camera to adjust it’s sensitivity to light. One thing thats very important to know is that you want to have the lowest ISO possible, because the more sensitive the censor becomes to light, the grainier the photo becomes. Keep as low an ISO as possible, but sometimes you may have to pull it up. For instance, in indoors, or nighttime photography you at least want the photo to turn out, but sometimes in order to keep your shutter speed up (which we will discuss soon) you must adjust your ISO up for that fastest shutter speed.

In manual mode, I call the settings you’re looking at maintaining “The Triangle” because there are three important settings. ISO, Shutter speed, and Aperture. Next week I hope to clear up some confusion with shutter speed, and hopefully this will all make so much more sense! I soon will have a questions section where you can easily ask any questions you have for me. Thanks for reading!

5th Edition

Editor’s Note

Today we are going to discuss shutter speed, how to keep it consistent, and how to make sure it’s right. This is the last of the series, but you can still access them on my website starting next week with the password”morecontentplease” Please note that with this series end the weekly emails will not continue until another series begins. Thanks for reading!

Shutter Speed

The time for which a shutter is open at a given time.

Shutter speed is very simple. It helps you determine the exposure of your photo by adjusting how long the shutter will let light in to the sensor. Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second. The higher the shutter speed, the less light the sensor will gather. This means you are probably shooting in a brightly lit environment. If you lower your shutter speed to far it will make the photo blurry. Because the sensor needs time to gather light, the shutter opens for longer, and ends up gathering he motion from your movement or your subject. It takes time to know what works best for you and your camera. Keep on practicing and give it all you’ve got! Keep learning and thanks for reading! I can’t wait to write another series next summer! Don’t forget to check for my holiday emails coming in a few months! If you want to read this or any of the other blogs in this series just head over to my website where I have a tab that saysNEWSLETTER and tap that. Then to enter just use the passcode“morecontentplease” and your in! Thanks again!